The music of Cambodia is derived from a mesh of cultural traditions dating back to the ancient Khmer Empire, India, China and the original indigenous tribes living in the area before the arrival of Indian and Chinese travelers. With the rapid Westernization of popular music, Cambodian music has incorporated elements from music around the world through globalization.

Mid-twentieth century

Starting in the late 1950s, Head of State Norodom Sihanouk, a musician himself, encouraged the development of popular music in Cambodia. Initially, pop records from France and Latin America were imported into the country and became popular, inspiring a flourishing music scene based in Phnom Penh and led by singers like Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Serey Sothea, and Pan Ron.[1][2] By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the scene was further influenced by Western rock and roll and soul music via U.S. armed forces radio that had been broadcast into nearby South Vietnam.[3] This resulted in a unique sound in which Western pop and rock were combined with Khmer vocal techniques.[4]

Modern Cambodian music is usually presented in Cambodian karaoke VCDs, which typically feature actors and actresses mimicking song lyrics.[citation needed]Noy Vanneth and Lour Sarith are two examples of modern singers who sing songs on the karaoke VCDs, and the VCDs feature songs composed by other musicians, in addition to songs sung and composed by notable musician Sinn Sisamouth.

Khmer Alternative Music

In recent years there has been a resurgence of creativity in contemporary Khmer art forms and music is no exception.[8] Cambodia's first alternative music label Yab Moung Records was founded in 2012 and has since recorded and released the first Khmer Hardcore and Death Metal tracks as well as producing a wide range of alternative artists creating unique Khmer blues, rock, hip hop and alternative music.[9]

Mekong Delta Sunrise

Lady dancer, Siem Reap, September 2005.

A June 2013 media report revealed that Astronomy Class recorded with Cambodian singer Kak Channthy.[12] The Astronomy Class album Mekong Delta Sunrise was released in late April 2014 and Kennedy completed an interview with the Phnom Penh Post in early May. Kennedy revealed that the initial inspiration for the recording occurred during a six-hour taxi ride in Cambodia in 2012, as old mix tapes played music from the 1960s and 1970s Cambodian music scene in the car stereo. The journalist described Mekong Delta Sunrise as "an album that combines laconic Australian-accented rapping with snippets of Cambodian “golden age” rock ‘n’ roll."[13] When asked about what the group wanted to achieve with the album, Kennedy replied:

What we wanted to cover was our experiences of modern Cambodia and the history of the music that we were referencing. We wanted to try and tell some of the story of the Cambodia of the ’60s and ’70s. We had been excited by the songs that we were hearing and it didn’t feel right to rap just anything over it. We wanted for new listeners to understand something about Cambodia and the music.[13]

Kennedy further explained that samples that appear on the album were taken from a range of sources, such as the Internet, and that a percentage of the proceeds from the album's sales will be given to the families of the musicians whose compositions are sampled, an intention that existed from the outset of the album's creation. Kennedy said that the band will return to Cambodia in 2015 and Astronomy Class "will be making every effort to give back to the families of the people that we’ve sampled".[13]